


Lavish and Squalor

by HyperKid



Series: Trans Caleb AU [7]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fjord needs pretty underwear too, Fluff, LATER, M/M, Multi, Other, Trans Male Character, binder party, genderfluid!Ruby of the Sea, nonbinary!Mollymauk Tealeaf, sharing is caring, soft, the Mighty Nein can’t be trusted with nice things, trans!Caleb Widogast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22611703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperKid/pseuds/HyperKid
Summary: Jester finally gets her long awaited package from home! It’s not exactly what she’s expecting, but it does contain one special gift from the Lavish Chateau that she’s been waiting for. Enough for all to share.
Relationships: Background PolyNein, Beau/Yasha/Jester/Caleb/Fjord/Molly, hints of BeauYasha - Relationship, hints of Widomauk - Relationship
Series: Trans Caleb AU [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1341280
Comments: 12
Kudos: 244





	Lavish and Squalor

**Author's Note:**

> HK: True story, this is actually the first thing I wanted to write for the Trans Caleb AU.   
> Mollymauk: And you didn’t leap instantly out of order because why?   
> HK: I kinda wanted to establish why everyone knew first.   
> Mollymauk: Not for the smut though.   
> HK: Never for the smut.   
> Mollymauk: Seems fair. And I got something nice out of it.   
> HK: That you did! And all of the others too.   
> Mollymauk: So we’ll get more smut soon?   
> HK: I posted on Thursday Molly, control your dick.   
> Mollymauk: I have never and will never do that. 
> 
> WARNINGS!! Bad language, flashes of angst, pillow related violence 
> 
> Disclaimer: we’re now starting a bid of Critters who’d like to be sold to Taliesin in exchange for the rights to Molly. Sign up starts in the comments.

The Pillow Trove was just too gaudy, Jester decided, her cheeks puffing up with frustration as she waited at the bar. It was entirely possible that her feelings were tainted by the constant feelings of disappointment and worry waiting for her mother’s package to arrive; she didn’t think about it too hard. 

It was just too hard to get to, too bright, too showy, hated all her friends, and wasn’t even a little bit as nice as the Lavish Chateau. Barely worth calling an inn at all she decidedly archly, frowning along the busy bar. 

Okay, the patrons were dressed nicer than at the Leaky Tap. And smelled better. And were a bit quieter. But that just meant it was boring too! 

Every minute she spent at the counter twisted her stomach into knots. 

What if the package wasn’t there? Again? 

What if it wasn’t coming? 

What if her Mama hadn’t gotten her letter? 

What if she had and just... didn’t want to send anything? What if she couldn’t? What if the trouble Jester had run away from had gotten worse and now her Mama was in trouble and- 

The reappearance of the young clerk cut off her spiralling thoughts, coming back into the room with a small package. Her heart in her throat, Jester actually rose up on her toes by the counter, not daring to hope. 

“Yes, I believe this is your package,” the young woman said with a slight smile. Jester all but snatched it from her, eyes seeking out her mother’s handwriting on the top. 

Yes. 

That was it. 

It was a small box, not much larger around than Caleb’s spell books and about the same again tall. The wizard had edged closer too, almost looking over her shoulder. 

He had to be curious, and she knew all too well why, giving him a broad grin as she turned back to the Nein. 

“We should go upstairs to open this, it’s probably going to be a lot of money,” she whispered, holding the box close. And of course it wasn’t anyone else's business what else might be in it. 

Caleb had a strange look on his face as they hurried upstairs, like he was afraid but at the same time like he wanted nothing more in the world. Dropping to sit on the edge of her bed, Jester tugged him down to the spot beside her. 

“We can try all the binders on and see which fit you,” she exclaimed eagerly, pulling the box up to hug it close again and trilling with excitement. 

Unable to hide a smile, Molly dropped to sit on her other side before Beau could, tucking his chin over her shoulder. 

“Your mother sent you binders?” He asked, raising a brow around her shoulders at Caleb. 

The wizard’s cheeks flushed, but Jester was busily tearing the wrapping off the box now, eager to get it open. 

“Oh yeah, I asked her to when I wrote her back in Trostenwöld! People give her soooo many as courting gifts and stuff, and not all of them fit her. And she’s got a whole bunch of them from before she had me! So I figured she would have something for Caleb.” 

Over her head, Beau and Fjord exchanged perplexed looks and shrugs. Asking why the Ruby of the Sea might have a surplus of binders seemed a little... foolish, looking at how many of their own group were showing interest. And for various reasons. 

The first thing in the top of the box was a letter, and Jester snatched it up so quickly that she nearly dropped the rest of the box. Caleb caught it automatically, resisting the urge to look inside as they all watched Jester’s eyes scan the letter. 

A delighted grin faded into a puzzled frown before their eyes, and then Jester looked up, plastering another smile onto her face. 

“Do you want to hear what she has to say?” 

Beau, privately completely sure the letter included news that Jester had been cut off, shook her head, but Molly had already said yes. 

It was... not what any of them had been expecting? The Ruby’s words, read in Jester’s obviously adoring voice, were full of warmth and affection. She was more than happy to include gifts for Jester’s new friends, as Jester had been sure she would. There were fresh inks, and even a bag of gold along with the package. 

On the whole, it was better than any of them had thought possible. 

Any but Jester, though she did her best to put a bright face on her disappointment, moving inks and gold aside to reveal a small pile of fabrics. 

“We should look at what she’s got for us! Caleb, look, there’s some to try on!” 

Looking over her shoulder, Molly cooed and reached into the box, flipping up an ornate blue silk number decked in pearls and laced with gold ribbon. 

“Oh, this one is definitely for me!” He declared happily, tossing his coat down and beginning to work his way out of his shirt. 

Stifling a giggle, Jester snatched the binder back from his lap. 

“Hey, Molly, let Caleb try first! I can always write to Mama for another for you if this is the only one that fits him!” She held out the beautiful binder and Caleb almost physically recoiled. 

“Jester...” he hissed, cheeks flushing right to his hairline, “I cannot take that! It’s so expensive!” 

“It’s not doing anything at home,” Jester pointed out, a little puzzled by his reluctance. Molly leaned across her, now shirtless, and flipped the binder out of her hands. 

“Let him look at the simple ones first, precious, I’m having a fashion show.” 

“Should we leave?” Fjord asked, a faint hint of a blush on his own cheeks as Molly wriggled his way into the binder and began lacing. 

About to look into the box again, Caleb hesitated, looking around the room. 

These were his companions, his friends now. They all knew this secret. Hell, they’d all seen him naked before and Molly was halfway there himself now. Even Beau was eyeing the box curiously. 

Drawing in a deep breath, he pushed down the impulse to hide. 

“No... I mean, you have all already seen the goods.” That got him a laugh, which helped to settle his nerves. He chanced another breath, looking to Beau. “I am sure you would like to try some too?” 

A little surprised to be caught peeking, the monk started, a defensive scowl flitting across her face before being dismissed. That it took her a moment of visible effort also helped the wizard to settle. 

“I mean... sure, if they don’t fit you? I think you’ve kinda got first dibs.” 

Especially if it meant he’d stop abusing the bandages. 

The subtext came through loudly enough that Caleb flinched, but no one else seemed to have caught it. Jester, still faking charm a little too brightly to be real, lifted a simpler white cotton binder decked with a pattern of slim golden vines and held it up to Caleb’s shoulders. 

“I think this one will fit you, Caleb, if you wanna try? And I know how to get it on right if you need help!” 

Not that Molly seemed to have had a moment’s trouble, although he had practice with this style himself. Running his hands along the smoothed lines of his body the tiefling turned sideways, voguing for the group. 

“What do you think? Is it me?” 

“Tacky, gaudy, tasteless? Yeah, it’s you,” Beau quipped without missing a beat. Molly blew her a kiss, equally unruffled. 

It helped. 

This didn’t have to be a big, dramatic, serious thing. Hands slowly rising to touch the cotton, he gave Jester a weak smile. 

“Ja... thank you, Jester. This means the world to me.” 

“Much better than money,” Nott added cheerfully with all the tact and charm of a rampaging manticore. 

Luckily Molly caught the conversational ball effortlessly, cupping his tits through the binder. 

“You think these aren’t there own little goldmine? There’s enough in here for a different one every day of the week!” 

“So you’ll be doing your own laundry?” Beau again, always ready with a shot across the bows just for fun. Molly blew her another kiss, then came back to the box. 

“Lemme see what else we’ve got,” he declared, setting Jester’s new inks and the bag to one side to rifle through the rest. 

Uncertain but looking a little more secure, Jester gave Caleb a broad smile. It looked far closer to her real one. 

“Well we’ve got to find Caleb at least one he likes first! What if you organise them by size, Molly, so people can try them on right?” She asked as she took the plain binder back, letting Caleb get started on removing his clothes. 

Pulling out a double handful, Molly snickered. 

“I was gonna organise them fanciest to plainest, but your idea has merit.” 

Clearly Jester thought his did too, pausing to think with a slight pout. Then she brightened. 

“What about both?” 

“Both is usually good,” Fjord admitted with a slight smile. There may have been another context from his words from the way both tieflings giggled and his cheeks flushed. Without a word he reached out, taking Caleb’s coat as he looked around for where he could put it. 

When the wizard looked a little surprised he just shrugged. 

“Think I’m gonna be a little broad in the shoulders for anythin’ belonging to Jester’s mom.” 

“Juuuuust a bit,” Jester agreed cheerfully, her focus now on unlacing the plain binder, “but that’s okay, if you want something like it I know the best place in Nicodranas.” 

Fjord, gaze shifting from Molly’s increasingly glittery hoard to her again, did look a little intrigued. Caleb decided against pointing out he didn’t have much need for one; a good shop would likely have a variety of other things more useful to the half orc. 

Although, the selection Molly was pulling from the box were beautiful in their own right. They’d almost all be acceptable as high fashion clothing, almost all decked in glittering beads or actual jewels. Caleb looked away quickly before he could be overwhelmed again. 

They were beautiful. 

Mostly tasteful. 

Functional remained to be seen, but they were exactly the kind of thing he’d spent five years telling himself he couldn’t have. Exactly the kind of thing he’d have loved as a young person. Most were flat and slim enough to fit seamlessly under clothing, but the rest were stunning, ornate, and clearly designed to remain uncovered. 

Molly looked incredible in them, still wearing the deep blue, pearled number as he set the last out on the room’s small dressing table. Somehow even the elaborate decorations of the Pillow Trove looked... cheap in comparison. 

And these were the Ruby’s ~cast offs~. 

He couldn’t imagine what she might choose to keep. 

Beau wandered over to take a look at the various different styles, doing her best to pretend she wasn’t impressed. That lasted approximately six seconds in, when she touched one of the plainer offerings. 

“Jester is this fucking velvet?” 

Spinning on the bed, Jester barely glanced at the deep purple binder in Beau’s hands. 

“Probably? Mama says people like giving it to her cuz they like touching it on her but it chafes on her nipples.” She had the plain binder unlaced now, but her fingers were still moving, tracing and caressing the embroidered vines. 

There was something almost wistful in the touch, perhaps the first thing she’d had in a while that came from home. 

Beau flipped the binder she was holding inside out. 

“This is lined with fucking silk, Jester?!” She exclaimed, staring at small garment that probably cost more than one of their horses. 

Hell, easily cost more than WC. 

It was just beginning to sink in to the group that Jester’s family might actually be fucking loaded. 

“Does that mean these are probably real then?” Molly asked, tweaking a pearl perched directly on top of his nipple. 

Probably on purpose. 

“You can tell by rubbin’ it on your teeth,” Fjord offered. He didn’t seem to know what to do with himself as more of the party undressed, or where to look. 

He definitely wasn’t ready for Molly to shoot him a lascivious grin and a seductive purr. 

“Well it’s a bad angle for me, but if you wanna go ahead and come try it out?” 

Luckily, before he had to work up a response Nott had already thrown a pillow at him. 

“Control your dick!” She demanded sternly, readying the other pillow to throw. 

Jester promptly squeaked in delight, dropping her binder to the bed and diving sideways to snag a pillow of her own. 

“Are we having a pillow fight?” 

About to take off her own shirt, Beau yanked it awkwardly back down and lunged for the other bed, unwilling to be caught off guard. 

Caleb, who had just gotten his last bandage rolled away, froze like a deer in the headlights. 

He’d been having enough trouble forgetting Trent’s eyes on him at the party. Enough trouble persuading himself that Jester could give her things to whoever she wanted to, and that he was allowed presents. Trouble fighting the instinctual panic that came with anything familiar. 

And now he had to switch gears for a pillow fight? 

Fucking tempting, but possibly more mental acrobatics than he was currently comfortable with. 

A large hand landed on his shoulder and he glanced up to see Yasha smiling softly down at him. 

“You can hide behind me if you want to,” she offered quietly. 

Out in the rest of the room, Fjord made a mad rush for the other bed, doing his best to get past Beau, Molly, and Jester to arm himself, being heavily pummelled with pillows as he did so. Watching his cackling assault, a small smile tugged at Caleb’s lips. 

So far, they mostly seemed to be focused on arming themselves and on the fellow armed. 

He glanced down at the binder Jester had abandoned on the bed. Part of him definitely wanted to snag his own pillow and just whale away some frustrations, but the rest of him... would like to try on a binder without anyone else watching him. 

When he looked up, Yasha was still watching him, gently protective. 

“That would be nice, thank you,” he said quietly, scooping up the binder and slipping back to the headboard. 

Yasha nodded mutely back, stepping to be between him and the chaos. She did not have any kind of pillow, but her strong, muscular arms tensed just a little. 

Ready to repel any attack. 

The absurdity of the situation pulled a proper smile from Caleb and he shook his head, turning his attention to the binder in hand. It did at least have the side effect of letting him know he was totally present. He couldn’t imagine having missed it. 

For a moment he was worried he’d have to get Jester to come help him; he’d seen the theory with Molly’s binder, but never worked up the courage to ask the tiefling if he could borrow it. Jester had unlaced the binder enough to be loose, but not fully to open it like a coat. Hesitating a moment, Caleb carefully tried to wiggle it over his head without fully unlacing it. 

A couple of the top loops slipped free, but he got himself in and situated. 

In the background, Jester’s cackling switched abruptly to squealing and Beau howled. Pausing with both hands on the cords, Caleb leaned around Yasha. 

Fjord and Molly had formed an alliance and were flanking the girls, and at some point Jester must have lost her balance. She and Beau were now a pile on the floor being pummelled from all sides. 

Yeah, she was a little busy. The smile creeping back across his face, Caleb went back to work. It was staying a little longer every time, felt just a little more real. Like he was slipping back into his own skin. 

Lacing the binder was straightforward enough, though he had to adjust himself a few times to get the fit right. It was almost entirely guesswork, but he had to assume that “part and down” worked with any kind of restraint. Tightening... 

He was tempted to ask Yasha, but he wasn’t sure how tight he was supposed to go. How tight he physically could go, though the construction of the binder was solid enough. It could probably handle a fair bit of strain. 

Chewing on his lower lip, Caleb messed with the cords for a while. Tightened. Loosened them. Tightened them again. 

Running his hands over his chest, he had to admit it felt good. The pressure was more easily dispersed than in the layers of bandages, and didn’t have the same tight patches or chafing. That could also be because the binder was clean of course, but that wouldn’t last. 

Although... it might. No one else was going to see the binder. He could maybe get away with keeping it nice... 

What he really wanted was the mirror, but that was above the small table, and only about three feet from the pillow pile. Which seemed to be... not slowing down? But Beau and Jester seemed to have given up on rising and Beau had just taken Fjord out at the knees, so the strategy must be changing. 

The temptation to join in was rising but went quickly back down as Molly toppled, landing on all three already on the ground. With his luck, he’d definitely get squished. 

Yasha was watching with a fond smile on her lips, her arms folded now that the threat had diminished. 

Caleb hesitated for a moment, then stood. 

“What do you think?” He asked, a little shyly as Yasha turned to face him. She gave him a thoughtful once over and nodded. 

“It looks good. Is it too tight?” She asked with a small smile. 

One that Caleb returned, fingers rising to play with the cords. 

“I don’t think so... I may have to ask Molly to be sure.” 

The lavender tiefling had been wearing one for a while, apparently. 

Yasha glanced across the now wrestling pile to where all of the other binders were piled on the table. 

“I would ask if you’d like to try another, but...” her voice trailed off, a mixture of fondness and exasperation that Caleb couldn’t help smiling at. 

“Ja. I suppose they will be done soon enough?” He wasn’t exactly sure why it was a question; he indisputably knew most of the group better than Yasha. On the other hand, she indisputably knew Molly better than any of them. 

She gave the pile another cursory look. Nott was still dancing around the edge, dodging hands, legs, and tails and whapping indiscriminately with her pillow. She was the last one left with her original weapon and seemed to be having a wonderful time. 

Chuckling softly, Yasha shrugged at Caleb. 

“It’s hard to tell. I think so?” 

The odds were probably about even that Jester would turn the whole thing into a tickle fight, should she get a single hand free from either Beau or Molly. Sighing softly, Caleb looked down at himself again. 

“I just wish I could see the mirror without being attacked.” He never fared well in wrestling, though watching it was fine. 

“Would you like me to carry you?” Yasha offered like it was the most normal thing in the world. Nearly giving himself whiplash as he snapped his head up, Caleb stared at her for a long moment. 

She seemed completely sincere. 

And... 

It’d get him safely past the pile. He was reasonably sure Yasha was one of the only people who could resist being dragged in. 

Fuck, she’d been the one to offer, it wasn’t like he was asking her to do something ridiculous. The thought that it was probably something she and Molly had done ~a lot~ in the circus brought a smile to his lips. 

Best be sure though. 

“It would not be imposing?” 

The smile that spread across Yasha’s lips was small, a little shy. Utterly sincere. 

“Not at all. You can’t weigh more than Molly does.” 

Which pretty much confirmed exactly what he’d been thinking. Giving in to the moment, Caleb nodded, smiling back. 

“Then I would appreciate that very much, Yasha.” 

He wasn’t actually sure how she’d do it, if she’d just pick him up in her arms or toss him over her shoulder, but again her experience showed through. Gesturing for him to stand, she stepped back a moment to look him over. Calculating. Then she nodded, knelt, and patted one shoulder. 

“It’s probably easiest if you just sit here,” she told him simply, entirely unembarrassed. 

Leaving Caleb to be embarrassed for both of them, which he was good at already. She certainly seemed to know more about what she was doing than he did, he told himself as he moved carefully to sit on the proffered shoulder. 

Just the one. 

Not even both. 

The woman could snap him like a twig. 

He didn’t often feel small and dainty, but he certainly did when Yasha stood, one hand at his thigh to steady him but showing less than no reaction to his weight. She gave his leg a reassuring pat and stepped carefully around the squirming pile of their friends on the opposite side to Nott’s current attentions. 

Molly definitely noticed, making a good natured swipe for his friend’s legs, but Nott took advantage to nail him in the face with a pillow. Possibly in Caleb’s defence, but he couldn’t swear she’d noticed. 

The whole boiling of them had rolled dangerously close to the table, and Caleb was a little wary of being put down again where he could be reached. 

Apparently Yasha had already thought of that... because she didn’t put him down. 

She raised the table in her other hand until the mirror was the right height for him to see. 

It was a little fucking difficult to focus on how the damn binder looked, because he could not fucking believe this woman. 

Nor could Beau. 

A quick glance around left the monk frozen and gaping, unable to process what she was watching. An extremely vulnerable position to take while trying to wrestle two tieflings and a half orc, and one which all three immediately capitalised on. 

Beau went from the top of the pile to the bottom with a startled yelp, Jester rolling out of her grip while Molly twisted to pin her, Fjord trapping both her legs in his and leaning back with a laugh. Struggling to find the words, Beau flailed impotently at her captors. 

“Hey! Not fair! Yasha’s being sexy!” A completely accurate protest really, though Caleb had a somewhat unique view of the barbarian’s cheeks flushing. Of course, Jester and Molly looked around at once, Jester letting out a loud whoop while Molly wolf whistled. 

Stifling a snicker, Fjord pushed himself away from the pile and quickly backed up. 

“You could have asked us to get out of the way,” he pointed out, not even trying to hide a broad grin. 

His own cheeks flushing, Caleb shrugged. 

He genuinely could not offer an explanation. 

And Yasha was still holding up the fucking table like it weighed nothing. 

“You were having so much fun?” 

*** 

Jester and Molly soon settled to the actual work of helping Caleb find a good fit now that he’d actually got a binder on, once Yasha lowered him back to the floor. He was a little surprised to find that neither of their hands wandered (and maybe just a little disappointed). On the whole, they were almost professional as Molly fixed his lacing, Jester checking the shoulders and sides.

“You know, this is pretty close,” she noted as Molly tied him off again, coming back around the front to grin at Caleb, “I think some of Mama’s older binders will work really well for you!” 

“Are these from before she had you?” Molly asked, giving Caleb a quick nod. “See if you can get a finger under that for me.” 

Entirely expecting Molly to have done that himself, Caleb slipped a finger up under the base of the binder, mirroring what Molly had done earlier. He had a fair guess what he was checking for, and Molly seemed happy enough with how much breathing space it gave him. 

Meanwhile Jester had made her way to the table, looking quickly through Molly’s newly scrambled sorting of the other binders. 

“Yeah, not all of them still fit and it takes a lot of time to get them all sorted for selling or donating. We auctioned one off once when I was little and some guy paid like, 900 gold for the Ruby of the Sea’s old binder.” 

The number sucked the blood from Caleb’s brain and he visibly paled, hand rising slowly to his chest. 

That... 

Was a lot of gold. 

There were ~twelve~ binders in the package. 

Although they probably couldn’t prove who’d owned them. And it probably had a lot to do with auction hysteria. 

Apparently entirely oblivious, Jester turned back happily with four other binders draped across her hands. 

“Do you want to try these, Caleb? I thiiiink this one’s the smallest, so it might be a little bit tight on you but you can give it a try!” 

Fortunately, Fjord seemed to have noticed his brain locking up and stepped in, coming to sit on the bed once more. 

“So do you always refer to the Ruby as your mother, Jester? Or does she... prefer something else on other days?” He asked somewhat innocently. 

And Jester had the attention span of a particularly cheerful magpie when she was in a good mood. It was a bit of a relief, honestly, given how visibly tense she’d been before. 

So she was perfectly happy to dump the binders in a pile in front of Caleb and turn her attention to Fjord. 

“She has a lot of she days, and sometimes she likes to use he or they, but those are usually kind of special? Like, if they reeeeeally want everyone to call them that, there’s usually a special announcement at the Chateau and sometimes special clients come by just for those days. But no matter what, they’re always my Mama!” 

“Do they peg people on he or they days?” Beau wondered, making her own way to the table to give it a cursory once over. Her frame was about the same as Caleb’s though, which did leave them in about the same place as to what would fit. 

The grin Jester shot her was positively filthy. 

“She’ll peg clients on any day if they ask her really nicely! But you can use she for her most of the time, until she tells you not to, or if you only want to see her on he or they days. It’s a branding thing to make it easy for people to talk about her.” 

“Sort of pronoun coding your interest?” Molly asked, ducking around Beau for his own look at the table. 

A little broader than both of the others, he could get started on the larger offerings in the pile. He’d already stripped out of the pearled binder, reaching for a golden silk with ruby red embroidery. 

Back on the bed Jester nodded happily, stretching her arms out behind her. 

“Pretty much. It saves time mostly if she knows what people want, and helps her narrow things down. She’s always got loooooads of people who want some of her time.” It was definitely bragging at least a little, Jester’s pride in her mother obvious in every line. 

Molly nodded approvingly, on his way to wriggle in to another binder. 

“I like how these have horn space too. I ripped a couple human binders when I first started, had to start unlacing them completely to put them on.” 

Which made Caleb actually glance down at his own shoulders. He wouldn’t have known what to look for, not having seen any of the garments before, but the straps were wide and almost off the edge of his shoulders. They were well fitted and clung easily to the skin, so he hadn’t even considered it before, but they’d easily allow horns to pass through. 

Not like the binder which Molly usually wore on the road, which he had unlaced completely to put on. 

Beau snorted before anyone else could comment, sneaking in a jab at Molly’s ribs while his head was covered and darting away before he could respond. 

“Coulda just done that from the start.” She made her way over to Caleb now, nodding to the pile of binders Jester had sorted. “Mind if I try?” 

Still unlacing his first, Caleb shook his head. 

“Feel free. I... probably will not try the more decorated ones.” 

The noise she made in return was hard to read; it could have been agreement, dismissal, or condemnation, but Beau did pick one of the more ornate binders from the pile. A rich purple satin with gold edging and laces that probably cost more than anything Caleb owned. 

The way she tossed her shirt aside and tugged it on made Caleb wonder just what riches she was used to, to be able to handle something so expensive so carelessly. 

Then again, it could just have been Beauregard. The only thing she was blatantly impressed by seemed to be Yasha. 

Caleb stuck to the simpler binders, though even the plainest were of rich fabric, well made and beautiful in their own right. Jester insisted he try the most coppery of the silk binders, cooing over how it matched his hair. Nudged in front of the mirror by Molly, Caleb’s cheeks immediately flushed. 

Yeah. 

Okay. 

The effect was... striking. The warm copper tones contrasted his pale skin, picking up the pinker undertones. With nothing else on, it looked almost like lingerie. 

Lavender fingers skated across his hips just above the line of his trousers as Molly settled him into position, tucking his chin carefully into the crook of Caleb’s neck to keep his horns out of the way. 

“That one really suits you,” he whispered into Caleb’s ear, making him blush even harder. 

And earned Molly another pillow to the back of the head from Beau, thankfully stealing his attention from the almost steaming wizard. 

He took it off immediately, but Caleb made sure to keep the copper binder. 

** 

Beau found a few binders that both fit and suited her taste, checking each with Caleb until he wished she’d stop. It wasn’t like he hadn’t told her he wouldn’t take the fancy ones. 

Anything fancy Beau didn’t take were scooped up immediately by Molly, who must have been close to the Ruby in proportions, since he could get most of them tight enough to have the desired effect. 

He was also perfectly happy to give them all a fashion show, parading around in each and voguing for their comments. Jester’s cheerful whoops easily drowned out Beau and Nott’s catcalls, so it really wasn’t necessary for the others to be involved. Which didn’t stop Fjord from occasionally adding his own approval. 

There was something in the half orc’s manner that seemed a little odd the more the sizing continued. A quietness, almost a yearning as he watched his smaller companions trying on the beautiful clothes. 

Jester and Molly made an instant, silent pact to find something glamorous and beautiful for the half orc to try later. There’d be at least one lingerie shop in a city the size of Zadash, and they’d probably have something lovely that’d fit around those broad shoulders. 

Even Yasha was persuaded to try on the largest binder, and while she couldn’t lace it to do its job it did show just how much pregnancy had changed the Ruby’s shape; the bulky barbarian was probably broader than Beau and Caleb combined, but could just about squeeze into it. 

It fit Jester with just a little bit of give, so she pressed it into Yasha’s pack and cheerfully ignored any protests. 

It wasn’t exactly thousands of gold, but she did love to share whatever luxuries she had with her friends. She’d spent long enough alone to appreciate the value of people a lot more than money. Finally having someone to share with... she couldn’t have asked for more. 

**Author's Note:**

> HK: 2020 is really gonna be the year of getting shit done, apparently. Why, for a whole week I wondered if I’d run out of backlog! And then I remembered the 10000 ideas that hadn’t made it to WIP stage and we’re back to 35 in progress.


End file.
